In The Spotlight Redux

[mongoII]

In the Spotlight: Geraldine Page

The divine actress was born November 22, 1924 in Kirksville, Missouri, to Dr. Leon Elwin Page, an osteopathic physician and Pearl Maize Page, a homemaker. She attended the Goodman Theatre Dramatic School in Chicago and studied acting with Uta Hagen. She began appearing in stock at the age of seventeen.
Although starring in at least two dozen feature films, she is primarily known for her celebrated work in the American theater.
In 1960 she won the Sarah Siddons Award for her work in Chicago theatre.

She earned critical accolades for her performance in Tennessee Williams' "Sweet Bird of Youth" opposite Paul Newman. Page received her first Tony Award nomination for the play. She and Newman later starred in the film adaptation and Page earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for the film. In 1964, she starred in a Broadway revival of Anton Chekov's "The Three Sisters" with Kim Stanley and Shirley Knight.
It would be in a few years and a few mixed-reviewed plays later that Page starred in another successful Broadway play. "Agnes of God", which opened in 1982.

Page gave celebrated performances in movies as well as her work on Broadway. Her film debut was in "Out of the Night" (1947). Her role in "Hondo" with John Wayne, garnered her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. In all, despite her relatively small filmography, Page received eight Academy Award nominations.
She finally won the Oscar in 1986 for a wonderful performance in "The Trip to Bountiful", which was based on a play by Horton Foote. Had she not won for "Trip to Bountiful", she would have held the record for most nominations without a single win. When she won, she received a standing ovation from the audience at the ceremony. She was surprised by her win (she openly talked about being a seven-time Oscar loser), and took a while to get to the stage to accept the award because she had taken off her shoes while sitting in the audience. She had not expected to win, and her feet were sore.

Her other notable screen roles include Academy Award-nominated performances in Tennessee Williams' "Summer and Smoke" (1961); "Sweet Bird of Youth" (1962); and Woody Allen's "Interiors" (1978). She also appeared in quirky and eccentric roles such as calculating murderer of old ladies in "What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice?" (1969); a repressed schoolmistress in the Clint Eastwood film "The Beguiled" (1971); a charismatic evangelist (modeled after Aimee Semple McPherson) in "The Day of the Locust" (1975); and as Sister Walburga in "Nasty Habits" (1977).

She did various television shows in the 1950s through the 1980s, winning two Emmy Awards as Outstanding Single Performance By an Actress in a Leading Role in a Drama for her roles in the classic Truman Capote stories, "A Christmas Memory" (1967) and "The Thanksgiving Visitor" (1969).
She also was a voice actress and voiced the hilariously evil Madame Medusa in the Disney animated film "The Rescuers"

Page returned to Broadway in a revival of Noel Coward's "Blithe Spirit" in the role of the psychic medium Madame Arcati. The production, which also starred Richard Chamberlain, Blythe Danner and Judith Ivey, was Page's last. Page was again nominated for a Tony Award, for Best Lead Actress in a Play, and was considered to be a favorite to win. Unfortunately, she did not win, and several days after the awards ceremony she died.

Page was married to violinist Alexander Schneider from 1954 to 1957. In 1963 she married actor Rip Torn, who was 7 years younger than Page. They remained married until her death. Page and Torn had three children, a daughter (actress Angelica Torn) and twin sons.

Page, who also suffered from kidney disease, died of a heart attack in 1987 during a run on Broadway in Sir Noel Coward's "Blithe Spirit" at the Neil Simon Theatre. She did not arrive for either of the show's two June 13 performances, and at the end of the evening performance, the play's producer announced that she had died at the age of 62.
Five days later, "an overflow crowd of colleagues, friends and fans," including Torn, Sissy Spacek, James Earl Jones, and Amanda Plummer, filled the Neil Simon Theatre to pay tribute to Page. Her achievements as a stage actress and teacher were highlighted; actress Anne Jackson stated at the tribute that "[Page] used a stage like no one else I'd ever seen. It was like playing tennis with someone who had 26 arms."
Her final movie was the 1987 Mary Stuart Masterson film "My Little Girl", which was the film debut of Jennifer Lopez.

[Vecchiolarry]

Hi Joe,

Great choice for the series, as always....

I love her in "Summer and Smoke" and Una Merkel too; also in "The Beguiled" and "Whatever Happened to Aunt Alice" - all pure heaven to watch.

Mercedes McCambridge and I went to see "Hondo" together as I loved westerns then and Mercy greatly admired Geraldine Page. She laughed, "I just know she's gonna steal roles away from me!!"......
When she died, I phoned Mercy to tell her about Geraldine's death and Mercy said incredulously, "She can't have died, she just won an Oscar. Her times finally come".... And I said, "Yes, it has; unfortunately not as anyone expected!".....

F. Murray Abraham announced when he awarded her her Oscar, "I consider her the greatest living actress today!!" And, she was.....

Larry

[mongoII]

Larry, the whole segment was like manic/magic on the evening of March 24, 1986 at the Academy Awards.
When F. Murray Abraham opened the envelope on Oscar night he announced "Ladies and gentlemen, I consider this woman the greatest actress in the English language. The winner is Geraldine Page in The Trip To Bountiful!"
The theme music from the movie played as Page hurried to find her shoes which she had kicked under her seat, she kisses her husband Rip Torn, while a long standing ovation took place for her.
Finally to her feet looking like she was wearing the drapes from "Gone With the Wind", up the steps to Abraham she almost falls, then making it to the podium at last.
You could feel the warmth and love for her that evening as she embraced the Oscar, so well deserved.

[Vecchiolarry]

Hi Joe,

I'm not sure about this next tidbit; it may be true or may not be.....
But, I have heard it a couple of times but not from the main participants:

Mercedes McCambridge wanted the role in "Summer and Smoke" and Laurance Harvey was all for it. He was a great friend of Elizabeth Taylor and so was Mercy. Of course, she didn't get it and I have always loved Geraldine in the role, so can't fault her.

However, Mercy did get a raw, sexually-repressed role in "Angel, Baby" with George Hamilton that same year. I have never seen this movie.
Was this a Tennessee Williams play?
Have you seen the picture? Is it any good?

Larry

[mongoII]

Larry, ironically both "Summer and Smoke" and "Angel Baby" were released in 1961.

Although I couldn't find mention of McCambridge wanting the role as Alma in "Summer and Smoke", it was reported that Laurence Harvey gave his full support to Geraldine Page during the making of the film. I gather that McCambridge would have been also wonderful in the part.

"Angel Baby" is worth a look and McCambridge is impressive as a preacher's deranged, obsessive wife. Also in the cast is Joan Blondell (a bonus in any movie), and Burt Reynolds with a full head of hair in his film debut.
The story has no connection to Tennesee Williams. TCM has played the movie in the past.

[Vecchiolarry]

HI Joe,

Thanks for that info. I'll have to dig up a copy of "Angel Baby" somewhere......

Although Mercy could have played Alma (she was an all round actress, after all) she was perceived as rather hard and controlling in her many roles and that may have jinxed her from being seen as playing Alma, who was domineered.
However, having played that flighty, silly, befuddled mother in "Suddenly, Last Summer", I think she could have pulled off Alma.
But, Geraldine was wisely best cast, I guess.....

One of my favourite lines is from this movie: when Una Merkel wants chocolate ice cream and someone suggests something else, she declares, "I want chocolate!!"..... I love it and use it often!!! And, you just know I get chocolate!!!!!

Larry

[mongoII]

In the Spotlight: Robert Cummings

Charles Clarence Robert Orville Cummings was
Born June 10, 1908 in Joplin, Missouri.
Also known as Bob Cummings, an American motion picture and television actor noted for his fresh faced youthful look which lasted long after he was young.

While attending Joplin High School, he was taught to fly by his godfather, Orville Wright. He studied at the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City. He had a brief career on Broadway under the stage name Blade Stanhope Conway, a supposed Englishman, before moving to Hollywood, California, first acting under the name and persona of Bruce Hutchens, a wealthy Texan.
Cummings chiefly performed in comic roles but was effective in his few dramas

In the 1930s Cummings worked (under his own name) as a contract player and appeared in a number of minor roles. He also made his mark in the CBS Radio network's long-running dramatic serial entitled "Those We Love".
He achieved stardom in 1939 in "Three Smart Girls Grow Up" opposite Deanna Durbin. His many film comedies also include: "The Devil and Miss Jones" (1941) with Jean Arthur, and "The Bride Wore Boots" (1946) with Barbara Stanwyck.
Cummings served duty at a base in Oxnard, California during World War II, and later was a pilot in the United States Air Force Reserve.

Cummings gave memorable performances in three notable dramas: "Kings Row" (1942) with friend Ronald Reagan, "Saboteur" (1942) with Priscilla Lane and Norman Lloyd (falls from the Statue of Liberty), and "Dial M for Murder" (1954), with Grace Kelly and Ray Milland.
A famous tale of Reagan and Cummings' friendship involves the time when Ronald Reagan decided to play a practical joke on Cummings by hiding behind a very small lamp. Cummings, however, could see beyond the lamp, and punched Reagan in the mouth, fracturing his jaw. The incident was later used as the basis for a song entitled "Lamp Disguise".

Cummings was chosen by producer John Wayne as his co-star for the part of airline pilot Captain Sullivan in "The High and the Mighty", in part due to Cummings's experience as a pilot. But director William A. Wellman overruled Wayne and hired Robert Stack for the part.

Cummings began a long career on television in 1952 with the comedy "My Hero". He was in the first performance of "Twelve Angry Men" to be televised, a live production that aired in 1955, and received an Emmy award for his role as "Juror Number Eight." From 1955 through 1959, Cummings starred in the celebrated sitcom, "The Bob Cummings Show" (shown in reruns as "Love That Bob"), later followed by "The New Bob Cummings Show", 1961–1962. He also spent a season starring in "My Living Doll" (1964), another sitcom. His last significant credit was the 1973 TV movie "Partners in Crime", also starring Lee Grant.

He was a staunch advocate of natural foods and a healthy diet and authored the book "Stay Young and Vital" (1960) on health foods and exercise. Not only was he a health food fanatic, but he often carried a small suitcase with him full of vitamin pills.
On his life-long devotion to healthy eating: "I'd love to tell all those critics how well I feel today because of my diet. But they're all dead."

Cummings married five times and sired seven children. Looks like those vitamins really worked.

Cummings died of kidney failure in 1990 at the age of 82 and was interred in the Great Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, California.

The appealing actor has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

[mongoII]

In the Spotlight: Angela Lansbury

Angela Brigid Lansbury born October 16, 1925 is a four-time Tony-winning, six-time Golden Globe-winning, three-time Oscar-nominated, and eighteen-time Emmy-nominated English actress. Her multi-faceted career has spanned seven decades and she is well-known for her roles on both stage and screen.

Born in London, Lansbury was the daughter of Belfast-born actress Moyna MacGill and Edgar Lansbury, a prominent businessman. Her earliest theatrical influences were teen-aged coloratura Deanna Durbin, screen star Irene Dunne, and her own mother, who encouraged her daughter's ambition by taking her to plays at the Old Vic.

After her father's death of stomach cancer, her mother became involved with a Scotsman named Leckie Forbes, and the two merged their families under one roof in Hampstead. Forbes proved to be a jealous and suspicious tyrant who ruled the household with an iron hand. Just prior to the German bombing campaign of London, Lansbury's mother was presented with the opportunity to take her children to America, and under cover of dark of night they fled from their unhappy home and sailed for Montreal, from where they headed to New York City. When her mother settled in Hollywood following a fund-raising Canadian tour of a Noel Coward play, she (and later her twin brothers) joined her there.

As a struggling young actress, Lansbury worked at the Bullocks Wilshire department store in Los Angeles. At one of the frequent parties her mother hosted for British emigré performers in their Laurel Canyon home, she met would-be actor Michael Dyne, who arranged for her to meet the casting director for the upcoming film adaptation of Oscar Wilde's novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray". He was also casting "Gaslight" with Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer, as well, and he offered her the role of the impertinent and slightly malevolent maid Nancy. She was nominated for an Academy Award for her 1944 film debut, and the following year garnered another nomination for her portrayal of Sibyl Vane in Dorian Gray.

Lansbury received good reviews from her first musical outing, the short-lived 1964 Stephen Sondheim musical "Anyone Can Whistle", which co-starred Lee Remick. Two years later, she was offered what proved to be the biggest triumph of her theatrical career, the title role in "Mame", Jerry Herman's musical adaptation of the novel and subsequent film "Auntie Mame", which had starred Rosalind Russell. Opening at the Winter Garden Theater on May 24, 1966, Mame ran for 1508 performances. Lansbury's portrayal, opposite Bea Arthur as Vera Charles, earned her the Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical. She and Arthur became life-long friends.

Lansbury won additional Tony Awards for "Dear World" (1969), the first Broadway revival of "Gypsy" (1974), and her English music hall turn as affection-starved meat pie entrepreneuse Mrs. Lovett in Stephen Sondheim's ballad opera "Sweeney Todd" (1979). In a television interview with Robert Osborne on Turner Classic Movies aired in August 2006, Lansbury stated that, theatrically, she feels she would "most like to be remembered for this role."

Lansbury has enjoyed a long and varied career, mainly as a film actress in roles generally older than her actual age, appearing in everything from "Samson and Delilah" (1949) to Disney's "Bedknobs and Broomsticks" (1971). Her notable credits include "The Manchurian Candidate" (1962) in which she played Mrs. Iselin, the cold-blooded mother of a war veteran brainwashed into becoming a Communist assassin. She won much critical praise for her chilling performance, and received her third Oscar nomination.
On CNN's Larry King Live, Lansbury said that her character in "The Manchurian Candidate" was her favorite of her many film roles which included, "National Velvet", "The Harvey Girls", "The Private Affairs of Bel Ami", "State of the Union", "The Three Musketeers", "Kind Lady", "The Court Jester", "The Long, Hot Summer", "All Fall Down", "In the Cool of the Day", "Dear Heart", etc.

Lansbury's popularity from "Mame" on Broadway in the '60s had her very much in demand everywhere in the media. Ever the humanitarian, she used her fame as an opportunity to benefit others wherever possible.

Lansbury then turned to character voice work in animated films like "The Last Unicorn" (1982) and as the Dowager Empress in the less well-received animated film "Anastasia" in 1997. Her most famous voice work was the singing teapot Mrs. Potts in the Disney hit "Beauty and the Beast" (1991), who performed the Oscar-winning title song.

Lansbury found her biggest success and a worldwide following as Jessica Fletcher in the long-running television series, "Murder, She Wrote" (1984 - 1996), which was one of the longest running detective drama series in US TV history and made her one of the highest paid actresses in the world. Ever generous, she remembered many of her MGM co-stars giving them parts on the series.

While Lansbury has won every Tony for which she's been nominated, with the exception of her nomination for "Deuce" in 2007, she was less successful with the Oscars and Emmys. The Oscar has always eluded her, and Lansbury holds the record for the most primetime Emmy nominations (twelve) as Best Actress without a single win. Yet, she is the recipient of several other prominent awards, including the People's Choice and Golden Globe.

In the early 1990s, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom appointed her a Commander of the Order of the British Empire. She was named a Disney Legend in 1995. She received a Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997, Kennedy Center Honors in 2000, and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

In 1945, Lansbury married American actor Richard Cromwell when she was 19 and he was 35. Unbeknownst to her, Cromwell was bisexual, and the marriage dissolved after a year, but the two remained friends. She sent flowers upon his death in 1960 at age 50.

In 1949, Lansbury married Irish-born actor and businessman Peter Shaw, who had been a former boyfriend of Joan Crawford. Shaw was instrumental in guiding and managing Lansbury's career. Until his death in 2003, Lansbury enjoyed one of the longest show-business marriages on record.

Lansbury is the mother of two, stepmother of one, and a grandmother several times over. In an interview with Barbara Walters, Lansbury revealed a firestorm that destroyed the family's Malibu home in September 1970 was a blessing in disguise, as it prompted a move to rural County Cork, Ireland, where her children were separated from the hard drugs with which they had been experimenting. Her son Anthony, after a brief fling with acting, became producer/director of Murder, She Wrote and presently is a television executive and director. Her daughter Deirdre and son-in-law, a chef, are restaurateurs in West Los Angeles, and both her twin brothers, Edgar and Bruce, are successful producers

Lansbury is a long-time resident of Brentwood, California, and supports various philanthropic groups in Southern California.
She had knee replacement surgery on July 14, 2005.
In 2006, Lansbury purchased a condominium in New York City at a reported cost of $2 million with her sights set on a return to Broadway, which she did in the play "Deuce".

She is quite the lady.

[feaito]

I enjoyed a lot reading Ms. Lansbury's excellently done profile. What a life! Keep up the good work Mongo.

[Vecchiolarry]

Hi Joe,

Angela Lansbury has done just about everything in the entertainment world and done them all well.....
I met her through her mother, who was an old friend of my grandmothers from the 20's onward.
Moyna MacGill was a real character and rather saucy and was an expert at the double entendre. Through her, I've met many, many in the British entertainment world, but sadly only Moira Lister remains.

In 1947, Nell and I went onto the "Green Dolphin Street" set to lunch with Moyna, that's where I first met her.
Also, that's where I first met Lana Turner, who was currently in the doghouse with L.B. Mayer and was trying to behave herself (well, for Lana!!)...
The next year, we all attended Lana's wedding to Bob Topping - a very elaborate, royal wedding paid for by MGM - Lana's movies were making big money then......

In 1949, Nell, Moyna and I went to Paramount to visit Angela on the "Samson and Delilah" set and that's where I met Hedy Lamarr. We all had lunch together and Hedy kept teasing Angela that Angela was the older sister. "Remember, dear, that you have to marry first or else I can't because you're the older sister!!"
Nell to Hedy: "Well, what were all those marriages called that you just went through - dress rehearsals?"....
Hedy: "No, just big mistakes!!"
Moyna: "Well darling, practice makes perfect!!"

Two weeks later, Moyna phoned me up and said, "Let's go out to 'Uncle Sugars' (Zukor's Paramount) and see Angie get killed!!"
We watched as they set up Angie next to the wall and then filmed her scream and slump down and then they set her up with that spear through her guts and the hairdresser kept combing all that hair over her face.
"What! Not even any bloody ketchup??" Moyna cried. "I thought they were going to spear you love, what a bloody letdown!!"
"Thanks a lot, Mama" says AL and then we all laughed.
When I saw it in the movie, it looks much better and I once told AL that she died better on film than in real life.
"Just send me my Oscar in the mail, dear!" she laughed....

Although I saw Moyna many. many times over the years, I've only really encountered Angela about a dozen times, although we are friends.
I saw her on Broadway in "Mame" in 1966 & '67 and went backstage both times and was very warmly greeted by her and Peter.
And, she wrote me a nice thank you note after I'd sent her a sympathy card when Peter died. So, she still remembers me, thankfully.....

And, I still consider her the star of every movie she's ever made, no matter who the STAR is..........

Lord, love her!!

Larry

[mongoII]

In the Spotlight: Dub Taylor

A prolific character actor Dub was born Walter Clarence Taylor, Jr. on February 26, 1907 in Richmond, Virginia. His name was usually shortened to "W" by his friends, and "Dub" was derived from that. His family moved to Augusta, Georgia, when he was five years old and lived in that city until he was thirteen.

A vaudeville performer, Taylor made his film debut in 1938, playing cheerful ex-football captain Ed Carmichael in Frank Capra's "You Can't Take It With You".
The renowned director was impressed by Taylor's acting skills. In his autobiography, "The Name Above The Title," Capra had this to say about Dub Taylor "That left just one more daffy part to cast -- Ed, Essie's xylophone playing husband. I was interviewing xylophone players when in walked a merry oaf wearing a perpetual infectious grin as big as a sunburst. Sweat drops gleamed on his receding forehead.

"I'm Dub Taylor, suh, and I kin play the xylophone." His very presence evoked laughter. 'Have you ever played in a picture, Mr. Taylor?' I asked. "No suh, I ain't. But I played in the Rose Bowl on the Alabama football team (jokingly). His Southern accent dripped hominy grits. I asked him to play the xylophone that I had in the office.

"I'll play you a love song, Mr. Capra. I'll play you Dinah.' The uproar he raised on the xylophone would wake the dead. He made ÔDinah' sound like four anvil choruses. The louder I laughed, the louder he played. I cast him on the spot."

The following year, Taylor appeared in "The Taming of the West", in which he originated the character of "Cannonball", a role he continued to play for the next ten years, in over fifty films. "Cannonball" was a comic sidekick to "Wild Bill" Saunders (played by Bill Elliott), a pairing that continued through 13 features, during which Elliott’s character became Wild Bill Hickok. Taylor moved again to a series of films starring Charles Starrett, who eventually became "The Durango Kid", once again, playing his sidekick, "Cannonball".
These films had been produced at Columbia, Capra's studio, and had a certain quality of production that seemed to be lacking at the Monogram lot, where Taylor brought his "Cannonball" character in 1947. After 1949, Taylor turned away from "Cannonball," and went on to a busy and varied career, but for many growing up in this period, this character is the one they call to mind when they remember Dub Taylor.

His acting roles, even during his "Cannonball" period, were not confined to these films. He had bit parts in a number of classic films, including "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" (1939), "A Star Is Born" (the 1954 version), and "Them!" about the giant ants (1954), along with dozens of television roles.
He joined Sam Peckinpah's famous stock company in 1965's "Major Dundee" as a professional horse thief, and appeared subsequently in that director's "The Wild Bunch" (1969), as a prohibitionist minister who gets his flock shot up by the title outlaws in the film's infamous opening scene, "Junior Bonner" (1972), "The Getaway" (1972), and "Pat Garrett and Billy The Kid" (1973), as an aging, eccentric outlaw friend of Billy's.
He also appeared in, "No Time for Sergeants", "Auntie Mame", "A Hole in the Head", "Home from the Hill", "Parrish", "Sweet Bird of Youth", "Spencer's Mountain", "The Cincinnati Kid", "The Reivers", "A Man Called Horse", etc.
Despite his extensive career as a character actor in a wide array of varying roles, Taylor's niche seemed to be in Westerns, having appeared in dozens of them over his career.

He is probably best remembered for his trademark bowler hat, which he wore in most of his appearances and his characters often wore the top half of faded long johns as a shirt.
He was also known for his wild gray hair, an unshaven bristly face, squinty eyes, and his raspy voice and cackle.

Arguably, his most memorable role was playing the father of Michael J. Pollard's C.W. Moss in "Bonnie and Clyde" who set up the infamous duo for the grusome finale (1967).

In 1986 he appeared at a western film festival with his son actor Buck Taylor. Dub told the fans that he enjoyed working and said, "I'll never retire. I've got too many expensive hobbies. As long as I can make people happy and laugh and get in some hunting and fishing, I just might live to be a hundred." True to his word, Taylor remained active until he passed away on October 3, 1994, of congestive heart failure. He was 87 years old.

In early 2006, filmmaker Mark Stokes began directing a feature-length documentary on the life of Dub Taylor, "That Guy: The Legacy of Dub Taylor," which has received support from the Taylor Family and many of Dub's previous co-workers, including Bill Cosby, Peter Fonda, Dixie Carter, as well as many others. The project had its world premiere at Taylor's childhood hometown of Augusta on April 14, 2007.

Quoted: "I don't care about winning an Oscar. I'm just an actor who can play parts and make people believe them." And that he did.

[mongoII]

In the Spotlight: TERRY MOORE

Born Helen Luella Koford on January 7, 1929, she grew up in a Mormon family in Los Angeles, California. She worked as a child model before making her film debut at age 11 in the 20th Century-Fox film "Maryland" with John Payne (1940).

Throughout the 1940s, Moore worked under a variety of names before settling on Terry Moore in 1948. She worked on and off in radio, most memorably as Bumps Smith on "The Smiths of Hollywood" alongside Arthur Treacher, Harry Von Zell and Brenda Marshall. (During the run of The Smiths of Hollywood, Moore used the name Jan Ford).
Although cast in mostly B-pictures, she managed to make her mark in several box office hits. Placed under contract by Columbia, Moore was loaned out to RKO for one of her most famous films, RKO's "Mighty Joe Young" (1949). Also "Come Back, Little Sheba" (1952) for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and "Peyton Place" as the flashy Betty Anderson (1957).
She also appeared in "Gaslight", "Son of Lassie", "The Return of October" with Glenn Ford, "The Great Rupert", "Gambling House", "The Barefoot Mailman" with Robert Cummings, "Man on a Tightrope", "Beneath the 12-Mile Reef" with Robert Wagner, "Daddy Long Legs" with Fred Astaire, "Shack Out on 101", "Between Heaven and Hell", "Bernadine", "Platinum High School", "Why Must I Die?", "American Southern", etc.

Her trademark was wearing accordion skirts and off-the-shoulder sweaters.

Although Moore has worked steadily for the past few decades, her appearances have been in usually minor roles in smaller films.

One of the first female jet pilots (ala Hughes), she was married six times and has 2 children, including actor Grant Cramer, star of the cult classic "Hardbodies" (1984).

In the 2006 DVD commentary for "Mighty Joe Young", Moore says that she is best remembered today for this film, made when she was 18. She says her most requested photo for autographs is of Joe holding her at the piano above his head. Moore and animator Ray Harryhausen made a cameo appearance in the 1998 remake of the film.

Long romantically involved with billionaire Howard Hughes, Moore claimed after his death After reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes died, she claimed they had secretly married on a yacht in international waters off the coast of Mexico in 1949 and never divorced. Although she could offer no definitive proof of her allegation, Hughes's estate paid her a settlement in 1984.
At the age of 55 she appeared nude in the August 1984 issue of Playboy magazine.
Despite her appearance in Playboy, she describes herself as a "devout Mormon".

She went on to write two books about Hughes:
Terry Moore - "The Beauty and the Billionaire",
and "The Passions of Howard Hughes". General Publishing Group (1996), an audio abridgement is narrated by Terry. She claims that Howard received no medical treatment because he was an abused victim of a conspiracy to take over his empire.

At age 78 Miss Moore is looking swell and has no plans of settling down.

Quoted: "I hate silicone, because now everyone can have what I have." Measurements: 35 1/2-23-35 (September 1953)

The beauty has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

[mongoII]

In the Spolight: Macdonald Carey

Carey was born Edward Macdonald Carey, March 15, 1913 in Sioux City, Iowa. His Irish-Catholic father, Charles Carey was an investment counselor. His mother was Elizabeth Macdonald Carey, from whence he got his full name: Edward Macdonald Carey.
He sang baritone in the school choirs and took leads in Gilbert and Sullivan operettas; he received his Masters in drama at the University of Iowa.
He graduated from the University of Iowa in Iowa City with a bachelor's degree in 1935, after attending the University of Wisconsin for a year where he was a member of Alpha Delta Phi.

He first made his career starring in various B-movies of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. He was known in many Hollywood circles as "King of the Bs", sharing the throne with his "queen", Lucille Ball. A most unlikely leading man, even in his earliest films, Carey surely owed what screen success he enjoyed to some mysterious "everyman" appeal that overshadowed his vapid appearance and seemingly diffident manner.

A successful radio actor and stage performer whose credits included the hit Broadway show "Lady in the Dark", Carey joined the Marines in 1943, staying in uniform for four years.
He returned to Paramount in 1947 in "Suddenly, It's Spring". In 1956 Carey took over the role of the kindly small-town physician "Dr. Christian', a character created in the late 1930s by the Danish-American actor Jean Hersholt, who had performed the part on radio and in films. Carey portrayed Dr. Christian on television for one season. Carey also played a the starring role of crusading crusading Herb Maris in the 1950s syndicated series "Lock-Up", and also appearing in numerous TV dramas.

He continued with Paramount nd worked at Universal into the 1950s; by this time he had slipped into more noticeable character roles, and transitioned to westerns for a time, such as "The Great Missouri Raid" (1951), "Outlaw Territory" (1953) and "Man or Gun" (1958). Carey played patriot Patrick Henry in "John Paul Jones" (1959). He also appeared in "Blue Denim" (1959), "The Damned" (1962), "Tammy and the Doctor" (1963), "El Dorado" (1966), and "End of the World" (1977).
Other films include, "Wake Island", Hitchcock's "Shadow of a Doubt", "Dream Girl" with Betty Hutton, "Streets of Laredo", "The Great Gatsby" (1949), "Comanche Territory", "South Sea Sinner" with Shelley Winters, "Copper Canyon" with Hedy Lamarr, "The Great Missouri raid", etc.

In 1956 Carey took over the role of the kindly small-town physician "Dr. Christian', a character created in the late 1930s by the Danish-American actor Jean Hersholt, who had performed the part on radio and in films. Carey portrayed Dr. Christian on television for one season. Carey also played a the starring role of crusading crusading Herb Maris in the 1950s syndicated series "Lock-Up".

For the remainder of his career, he played Tom Horton on the daytime soap "Days of our Lives".
During this time, Carey suffered from a drinking problem, and eventually joined Alcoholics Anonymous in 1982. A longtime pipe smoker, he was seen in many films and early episodes of "Days of our Lives" with it. He was ordered by his doctor to quit in September 1991 after having to take a leave of absence from Days in order to remove a cancerous tumor from one of his lungs. He returned to the show in November of that year.

He died in Beverly Hills, California from lung cancer in 1994 at the age of 81.

He is most recognized today, over a decade after his passing, as the voice who recites the epigram each day before the program begins: "Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives". From 1966 to 1994, he would also intone, "This is Macdonald Carey, and these are the days of our lives."
After Carey's passing, the producers, out of respect for Carey's family, decided not to use the second part of the opening tagline. At each intermission, his voice also says "We will return for the second half of Days of our Lives in just a moment".

Carey wrote several books of poetry and a 1991 autobiography, "The Days of My Life". For his contribution to television, Macdonald Carey has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 6536 Hollywood Boulevard. He also won 2 Emmy Awards.

He was married to Elizabeth Hecksher from 1943 until their divorce in 1969. They had six children. Later, he dated Lois Kraines, who was his significant other from 1973 on.

He is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California, alongside his daughter Lisa, who died in infancy. Carey also had five other children: Lynn, Theresa, Steven, Edward Macdonald Jr., and Paul.

Quoted: "I'm an actor who likes to work and what's the difference whether it's in the daytime or at night."

[Vecchiolarry]

Hi Joe,

Good old dependable MacDonald Carey......

I remember him from the Paramount set of "Copper Canyon". He was kind of a scruffy bewhiskered dude and Hope Emerson, who adored him, kept trying jokingly to shave him and kiss him. And, she'd call him a low down, dirty, filthy varmint, who'll never get a girl looking like that. They'd end up laughing and giggling and ruining more takes but having the best time.
She'd run after him and then go into a Theda Bara vamp routine, "Kiss me, my fool!"

I know Paulette Goddard was very fond of him too. I think they did a couple of movies together.

Larry

[Lzcutter]

He was kind of a scruffy bewhiskered dude and Hope Emerson, who adored him, kept trying jokingly to shave him and kiss him. And, she'd call him a low down, dirty, filthy varmint, who'll never get a girl looking like that. They'd end up laughing and giggling and ruining more takes but having the best time.
She'd run after him and then go into a Theda Bara vamp routine, "Kiss me, my fool!"

Larry,

Thanks for the remembrance. It's a side of Hope Emerson I never realized.